Saturday, February 27, 2016

Almost 40 years ago, in 1977, I made two crocheted blankets for my two youngest kids, entered them in the Harford Fair and won blue ribbons. Each was different. It took 32 different colors to make them. Each stripe is a different color. I must have gotten the idea to hang them on the clothesline and take a photo, from my mother! She and my grandmother taught me how to crochet. My own three girls never showed an interest in learning this art.

Friday, February 26, 2016

I'm in the middle of the photo project and came across some pictures my mother took of her crocheted afghans. So far I have 4 albums repaired and restored to the best of my ability. It is extremely difficult because she GLUED or PASTED almost all of them on the vintage type black construction paper both sides, and cannot remove them. Even when they are pasted, she has attached the black corners! Where the corners have come loose I replaced them as the photos were becoming dog eared. Well I'm rambling but think you get the idea.

If you have never scanned photos in 12" x 18" albums on a 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" scanning bed you would run into the same difficulty.

Yes, I know the old albums are not acid free, but I do what I can. I had to take them all apart to repair the holes in the back of the pages that were torn from use. I used black electrical tape on both sides of the page and repunched the holes. That should last for a few more years.

I found instructions for removing photos from paper backing BUT would have to tear every page apart. Not going there!

The next thing I have to do is mount all of the many MANY loose photos of ancestors in the vintage books I was able to locate at e-bay. Fun ahead!

To get to the point now, I have scanned 21 of Mother's afghans. She would be totally embarrassed to know that she spelled it wrong. Chuckle.....Can't imagine the difficulty she had to hang each one on her clothesline, take a picture, and do it over and over and over! By the way, there were more that I remember but no photos.

This one is mine!

They all were scanned in the order they were in the albums scattererd throughout.

Friday, February 19, 2016

I have been through it extensively twice to see exactly what is here. There are at least two albums of old photos missing, according to my memory. I spoke with my brother and he also remembers the same photos in the missing albums. It is a mystery. They are the snapshot photos of both he and I and our twin sisters in the years between 1936 - 1942.

So far, according to my perceived needs, I have ordered three blank vintage albums from e-Bay and new black mounting corners. One of the albums has arrived and there were two packets of white mounting corners inside. That was a surprise. Some of the pictures in the old albums are mounted in white corners, but most are either pasted! glued! or mounted in black corners that have come loose.

I ordered 9 packets of black corners, each containing 252. (2268 corners will hold around 567 photos.) I think I'll have enough corners.

So far I have spent only $104.06 including shipping and handling charges. ($49.14 corners) ($54.92 blank vintage photo albums, two brand new). I sure hope that will be all!

Click on image to view larger

The other two albums arrived today. One was brand new and there was a packet of black mounting corners in it. The date on the packet was 1952.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

I took time out from intense old ancestry photo project to relax with the "new" image generator. Just showing off here.

Original Image

Manipulated Image

Framed ImageClick on it to see larger

I know that the old frame is inappropriate to the modern photo but I just had to make the photo fit. It was an "experiment." I snatched the frame and then filled in the space with the picture, which left a space at the bottom so I filled in that space with a name. This is fun and relaxing for me!!!

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Anni says the "image generator" is addictive. Well I already know that my compulsion for creating photo manipulations is addictive. Sometimes I make up to ten of a particular photo and then compare and save an assortment that please me.

Of course, when Anni posted a link to one site I haven't used yet, I HAD to try it. After experimenting and then making a few and eliminating a few, I decided to keep these. I used a picture of my lifelong friend's granddaughter when she became engaged. The big event happened in Italy when they visited her brother who was studying there. I love them both, their mother and father and my deceased best friend. Sarah knows I do these and is "arty" herself, so I feel free to be me.

This young lady has the GREENEST eyes I have ever come across, and is very expressive. I look forward to attending the June wedding!

Monday, February 15, 2016

Zither

According to the Dictionary, the zither is a stringed instrument consisting of usually 30-40 strings stretched over a flat-sounding box. It is played horizontally with the fingertips, a plectrum, a bow, or sometimes by wind, as is the case with the Aeolian harp.Traditionally, it is a folk instrument of Austria and the Bavarian Alps. The melody strings are stopped against frets on the finger board while being plucked with a plectrum.Alternate names: zitera, cithara, kitthar, cither, zithern., or German version of the cittern.Some also call the Pennsylvania German zither, the German concert zither, the guitar-zither, and some plucked psalteries zither's as well.

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a keyboard instrument whose strings are plucked by means of quills or plectrums. It is of German origin and was made popular from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Friday, February 12, 2016

I have no idea who this pretty lady is and am curious about the instrument she seems to be playing. Maybe it is just a posed photo but, because of the shoulder flowers and the instrument she may have been a noteworthy musician. It was in a stack of others, some I can identify, but others not. It is marked on the left hand lower corner.

Copyright 1898 byAlfred S. Campbell.Elizabeth, N. J.

This is all I could find addition to a blog and I have sent a very small file replica of the photo to the Campbell Art Company as requested:

"HI all!
I am looking to gather information on Alfred S. Campbell (1840-1912) photographer and entrepreneur. He worked in England before coming to this country in 1866 with Napoleon Sarony, to run Sarony & Co. He then started Alfred S. Campbell Art Company, Elizabeth NJ, also known as AS Campbell Art Co.; Campbell Art Company, Campbell Art Factory, Campbell Picture factory, etc. He also partnered with Francis Price in Price & Campbell, NY, then opened Campbell Studios NY with Rudolf Eickemeyer, later Morand. He later bought into Montauk Photographic Manufacturing Co. (Trenton, NJ) and Landon, Kent & Co. (WVA, MD). I believe Campbell Studio NY was also expanded to other cities. His companies were some of the largest of the kind in the country.

As far as his work as an artist; Some of Alfred S. Campbell's stereoviews may be seen at the Library of Congress. A painting by Alfred S. Campbell, 1899 is in the Smithsonian. I found one US photographic Patent bearing his name directly 1878.

I am looking for information on the man, his family, his businesses, his work as a photographer, his patents, anything put out by his companies, info on his employees (in 1896 Campbell Art factory employed over 300 people!), etc.

If you have any information on this man/photographer, his businesses, his photographers, a product, or a family member who worked for this company or is a relative of Alfred S. Campbell, please share it here.

Also if you have a photograph or card or calendar marked with his companies name please send me a picture of it so it may be added to the website!

I may also be able to help identify the picture or answer your questions regarding Alfred S. Campbell Art Company and Campbell Studios."

Of about 50 hard stock photos in this particular stack, only about 25% can I identify from my memory and recognition. It really is sad that "way back then" no one marked on the back who these people are! Frustrating. They seem to be studio photos, many with props and those other studios are long gone without leaving internet traces!

About Me

I really really like to observe and learn about nature - humans, animals, fish, flowers and more. I do a lot of research on my computer, learning...learning...learning. It makes me feel good to learn about the world around me. A newer project is photography and I'm experimenting with a digital camera. Sure wish I would have started this many years ago. I also like to write memory stories; I write about recent happenings in my daily life, and some of my thoughts. I like to read mysteries, quotes and some poetry. I enjoy solitude an am not very social.